Playing louder = playing better?

thecolourbox

Just to be contrary i find it much harder to sound good the louder it gets because i've got weird hearing and I can't hear loud noises. I play much better through studio monitors or sitting close to an amp on low. It probably has more to do with you being in a happy place mentally that's conducive to playing better. Perhaps church playing is more restrictive for you at times and you prefer a freer environment to play in. I'm the opposite, I prefer restrictions and a bit of a struggle to get me on my toes. Just finding different scenarios to play in could be good for you

english_bob

lincolnblue said:

Thinking on this, I wonder if having it loud direct in my ears results in me turning it down a bit whereas last night it needed to be loud so I could hear and compete with other instruments and drummer. Perhaps the physical sound behind me helps

SPECTRUM001 said:

100%  yes - it's a vibe ting.

Although...it has to sit in the mix. Nothing worse than a guitar that is way too loud vs the rest of the instruments (which sometimes you may not even know unless you can catch the front of house sound).

Absolutely this. I think there's a sweet spot in terms of how loud you are in the mix, regardless of the overall volume.

Not being able to hear yourself is always hard work, but if my perception is that I'm too loud (whether or not the rest of the band or the audience feel that way) I'll be hesitant, and wary of playing too loud. There's a psychological sweet spot where I know I can play dynamically to either blend in with the rest of the band or play a bit harder to stand out more in the right places.

Playing loud and in relative balance with the band is obviously most satisfying, but if I can only have one I'll take relative balance over overall loudness.

TimmyO

Depeninding where you’re at as a player I think so yes - by that I mean for me as a not very good player playing loud is more revealing of dynamics (deliberate and otherwise) and it just makes me play with more focus and attention and that results in better 

bertie

jasonbone75 said:

. Hearing self is absolutely the most important and that's why we invented in-ear monitors. I don't even enjoy playing when it is above a certain volume. I've said it before if you need to be louder (edit: louder than loud enough perhaps?) to play better then you need more practice. I appear to be in a small fringe minority though

this,  

loud (ish)  is only "better" if

a) those around you are proportionally as loud

b) you can actually hear yourself 

c) all at a volume where it isnt (subjectively) uncomfortable

- as was proved last sunday. -  If you cant hear what you're playing.  volume has no positive impact, far from it

robgilmo

I think amps tend to open up more when loud, they always sound quite dull on lower volumes, or it could just be my ears.

english_bob

robgilmo said:

I think amps tend to open up more when loud, they always sound quite dull on lower volumes, or it could just be my ears.

Scientific studies apparently prove that we broadly equate louder with better. 

Presumably the correlation stops when "louder" ends up crossing the pain threshold.